Converter



H. FOLKERTS CONVERTER Filed Fe 16. 1924' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ta yak! Ha I d 7 N l-if inlet 5x d b? Jul 22, 1924. 1,502,621

H. FDLKERTS CONVERTER Filed Feb. 16. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2

w v c a a c Patented July 22, 1924.

ED STATES HAYO FOLKERTS, OF AACHEN, GERMANY.

CONVERTER.

Application filed February .16, 1924. Serial No. 693,363.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, Hare FoLKERTs, a citizen of Germany, residing at ,Aa'chen,

No. e8 Rutscherstrasse, Rhenish Prussia Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Converters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 7

This invention relates to converters employed in the steel practice, and it has for its primary object to provide a converter permitting of large and controllable quantitles of blast being fed to the metal bath or converter shaft evenly throughout the entire cross-section of the converter and at the smallest possible expenditure of ener y, and further permitting of attaining at t e exit of the blast nozzles an air velocity which, as the case may be, will beheld to ie the most preferable one with regard to the height of the bath, the duration of the converting and the required properties of the product.

The said object, viz, the energetic and universal accommodation of the blast supply to the converting or working process, is

reached according to the invention by usingshort smooth nozzles which are preferably mounted interchangeably in a converter bottom solely formed by a metal plate which is cooled on the blast inlet ,side in such a manner that, on the blast outlet or bath side which is exposed to high temperatures (more than 1000 C.) the temperature and consequently the oxidation of the respective face of the plate is kept in moderate limits. The most suitable material for making the converter bottom" is steel which is difiicult to oxidize, for instance, stainless steel. In order to allow the converter bottom to be made thin and thereby render the cooling action as eflicient as possible, it is advisable to prop the bottom by staybolts or the like, such as for instance by nozzles constructed and arranged as staybolts.

The above and other objects of the invention will be fully understood from the following description and the annexed drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the lower portion of a converter with water cooling;

pipe a'nd a water outlet pipe 6 Fig. 2 is a similar section of a converter w th blast cooling;

rigs. 3 to 10 are sections and plans, re-

specti'vely,of a plurality of forms of nozzles,

the sections showing also the connection of the nozzleswith converter bottom and the outerwallof the cooling jacket.

' Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, a designates the converter bottom consistingof a metal plate. This plate is constructed of material which will not appreciably melt or oxidize under the workingconditions of the converter.

Stainless, steel is an example of a metal which satisfies the working conditions desired for use as a converter bottom for the purposes of thisinvention. Arranged at a short "distance below the bottom a is a plate 6 which constitutes the outer wall of a water jacket formed by the two plates at and b. o are the nozzles which extend through the plates a and Z). The cooling jacket has connectedto it a water supply Arranged underneath the plate Z) is the blast boxd with'the blast inlet (Z Vfith the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the converter bottom a forms the top wall of the blast box (i so that, in this case, the converter bottomwill be cooled by the blast flowing through the nozzles c.

The nozzles 0 may either lie with their axes parallel with the converter axis, as shown in Fig. 1, or their axes may extend radially with relation to the centre of the sphere of which the converter bottom is a se ment, as shown'in Fig. 2. The latter arrangement possesses advantages both as regards the manufacture of the bottoms as well as the distribution of the blast in the converter shaft.

According to Fig. 3 the converter bottom a is provided with simple non-interchangeable nozzles c which taper toward the converter shaft. These nozzles are adapted to be used for baths of small height and a comparatively long duration of converting. The velocity of the, air at the exit of these nozzles c is lower than the velocity of sound. The nozzle 0 shown in section in Fig. 4 and in a top plan in Fig. 5 is interchangeable but of a shape similar to that of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 shows a converter bottom carryin interchangeable nozzles 0 flaring out towar the converter shaft. With these nozzles the ter cooling such as shown in Fig. 1. The

nozzles according to Fig. 9 are in threaded engagement with the converter bottom a. They rest on the lower wall I) of the water jacket by means of annular shoulders f and are securely held in the same by means of nuts 9 screwed on the outer threaded end of the nozzles and bearing against the wall 6 through the intermediary of yieldable rings 7L interposed between the, nuts and the said wall. The converter bottom is thus supported by the nozzles on the wall 2). Owing to the yieldable rings the nozzles have a limited play in axial direction. As a matter of course, the diilerent conditions of elongation of the walls a and 1) due to changes of temperature are duly taken into account.

The nozzles 0 according to Fig. 10 are in threaded engagement both with the plate a i forming the converter bottom and the plate I). The edges of the holes of the plate a receiving the threaded nozzle ends are rounded ofi at the outlet end. Besides, the

cooling of the hole edges is rendered particularly eflicient by providing the underside of the plate a with annular recesses 71 surrounding the screw holes.

The threaded portions are preferably made of the same dimensions for almost all diameters of nozzles that may come into question, so that nozzles with a relatively large diameter may be readily replaced by nozzles with smaller diameters.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a converter, a nozzle-carrying converter-bottom consisting of a plate of non- 3. In a converter, a nozzle-carrying converter-bottom consisting of a metal plate, a

cooling jacket formed by this plate and another metal plate spaced with relation to and arranged underneath the first-mentioned plate, aligning holes in the two plates for receiving and holding the ends of the blast-nozzles, the nozzles being mounted interchangeably and with a limited axial play in said holes and having bearing shoulders adapted to seat on the lower plate so as to drop the upper plate which constitutes the converter bottom.

4. In a converter, a nozzle-carrying converter-bottom consisting of a metal plate, a cooling jacket formed by this plate and another metal plate spaced with relation to and arranged underneath the first-mentioned plate, aligning holes in the two plates for interchangeably receiving and holding the ends of the blast-nozzles, the said firstmentioned plate having the edges of its holes rounded oil at the outlet side of the nozzles and being provided on its lower face with cooling recesses concentrical with relation to the holes.

5. In a. converter, a nozzle-carrying con verter-bottom consisting of a metal plate,

this plate having the shape of a calotte and the nozzles being'arranged in the plate so that their aXes extend radially with relation to the centre of the sphere of which the calotte is a section.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. v

HAYO FOLKERTS. 

